Socialism ignores basic human nature

In response to Paul Street ("Imagine a U.S. beyond capitalism," April 20) and Karen Kubby, ("'Imagine' comes across as more academic than practical," April 22): we don't really need to imagine a U.S. without capitalism, we just need a little history lesson.

In 1607, there was a settlement called Jamestown. This settlement had no capitalism.

One-hundred-four settlers arrived from Europe and the men were bonded laborers. They had no stake in what they produced and there was no private property. Any food produced was placed in the community store. This was a land with rich fertile soil, fruits, wild game and fish.

Yet six months later, 66 people died from starvation. Then in 1609, 500 more people arrived and six months later 440 people died from starvation and disease. Because hard work was not personally rewarded, people stopped working.

In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale arrived and abandoned the socialist system and instituted capitalism and private property rights. He did this by giving each settler private ownership of three acres. The settlers were no longer required to put all the fruit of their labor in the community store but were responsible for their own food production.

Private ownership and capitalism defeated socialism. Socialism does not work because it ignores basic human nature.